[God is] a father to the fatherless. Psalm 68:5
Guy Bryant, single and with no children of his own, worked in New York City’s child welfare department. Daily, he encountered the intense need for foster parents and decided to do something about it. For more than a decade, Bryant fostered more than fifty children, once caring for nine at the same time. “Every time I turned around there was a kid who needed a place to stay,” Bryant explained. “If you have the space in your home and heart, you just do it. You don’t really think about it.” The foster children who've grown and established their own lives still have keys to Bryant’s apartment and often return on Sundays for lunch with “Pops.” Bryant has shown the love of a father to many.
The Scriptures tell us that God pursues all who are forgotten or cast aside. Although some believers will find themselves destitute and vulnerable in this life, He promises to be with them. God is “a father to the fatherless” (Psalm 68:5). If, through neglect or tragedy, we’re alone, God is still there—reaching out to us, drawing us near, and giving us hope. Indeed, “God sets the lonely in families” (v. 6). In Jesus, other believers comprise our spiritual family.
Whatever our challenging family stories, our isolation, our abandonment, or our relational dysfunction may be, we can know that we’re loved. With God, we’re fatherless no more.
1 May God arise,p may his enemies be scattered;q
may his foes fleer before him.
2 May you blow them away like smoke—s
as wax meltst before the fire,
may the wicked perishu before God.
3 But may the righteous be glad
and rejoicev before God;
may they be happy and joyful.
4 Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,w
extol him who rides on the cloudsb x;
rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.y
5 A father to the fatherless,z a defender of widows,a
is God in his holy dwelling.b
6 God sets the lonelyc in families,c d
he leads out the prisonerse with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.f
7 When you, God, went outg before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness,d h
8 the earth shook,i the heavens poured down rain,j
before God, the One of Sinai,k
before God, the God of Israel.l
9 You gave abundant showers,m O God;
you refreshed your weary inheritance.
and from your bounty,n God, you providedo for the poor.
INSIGHT
- What does it mean for you to have a heavenly Father who loves you and will never leave you?
- How does He meet your deepest needs?
Nearly forty times in the Old Testament the Hebrew word yāthom (the root word means “to be lonely”) is translated “fatherless,” as in Psalm 68:5. Though forgotten by others, the fatherless and widows aren’t overlooked by God. The social responsibility of God’s people included sensitivity to care for them. The first place in Scripture that explicitly points this out is Exodus 22:22–23: “Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.” The words of James in the New Testament also reveal God’s heart for them: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). God’s people of any era are to be His caregiving agents to those on the margins.
PRAYER
Father God, I need a good father, a true father, one who will not leave me. I’m grateful You’re this Father for me. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!!
Read: Psalm 68:1-10 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 12-13; Acts 4:23-37
